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Grammar, writing mechanics instruction, short term, summer-only


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If you had a 5th grader and an 8th grader and you have just realized that the school is doing a terrible job teaching them the mechanics (punctuation, S-V agreement, capitalization, correct placement of modifiers and so on...and you wanted to do a summer intensive, what curriculum or guidebook would you use?

I'm asking for a friend in this situation.  Homeschooling is not an option and she doesn't want to do ongoing instruction during the regular school year.  If you were in this situation, what would you do? 

I am confident in my own abilities to teach using a book like Harbrace or a Rules of Grammar/Writing sort of book but I don't know that she is. 

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Painless Grammar worked with my 8th grader. It's sort of like a self-help book-not a text book, not a work book, but there are periodic quizzes. I was able to give it to my 8th grader to do basically on his own, but I wouldn't do that with my 5th grader I'd sit down with him and read and make sure he understood as I went. 

It covers subject verb stuff, as well as common mixed up words. Most libraries have it.

 

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Evan Moor has a series of books called “Grammar and Punctuation” that would cover all those concepts. The books are labeled by grade and only goes to sixth grade. For the older student, she might consider “Applications of Grammar Book 1: Basics for Communicating Effectively”.

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I bought Analytical Grammar Mechanics for 5th grade next year. There are 15 lessons intended for 15 weeks, but you could speed it up. Day 1 is the lesson, day 2-4 are a worksheet and day 5 is the test. I imagine you could do the lesson and a worksheet (so, 2 days).

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3 hours ago, LauraClark said:

I bought Analytical Grammar Mechanics for 5th grade next year. There are 15 lessons intended for 15 weeks, but you could speed it up. Day 1 is the lesson, day 2-4 are a worksheet and day 5 is the test. I imagine you could do the lesson and a worksheet (so, 2 days).

That is an excellent resource.   However, I believe it requires a child to have a pretty good understanding of the parts of speech and how to identify what a word is doing in the sentence.   

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On 6/2/2021 at 3:21 PM, Mona said:

Evan Moor has a series of books called “Grammar and Punctuation” that would cover all those concepts. The books are labeled by grade and only goes to sixth grade. For the older student, she might consider “Applications of Grammar Book 1: Basics for Communicating Effectively”.

I second the "Grammar and Punctuation" books and would additionally suggest they be paired with Evan Moor's "Language Fundamentals" (272 pages)  which give a lot more practice.  Language Fundamentals Grade 6 is the highest level.  E-M Vocabulary Fundamentals Grade 6+ is excellent as well.  I believe they are all supposed to be used together.  That's what I do.  Vocabulary Fundamentals teaches word structures, roots, idioms, homophones/homographs, suffixes, prefixes etc.  In fact, all the levels are good.  I started my son with Grade 3 because he needs a lot of repetition and we're doing all the pages. Pages are perforated.

Amazon link, unusually they loaded the image upside down.  I wouldn't pay the price it shows today....  Other places sell Evan-Moor as well, or digital purchase from E-M themselves so the parent can print copies for each child, or reprint if the recollection of the rules starts to fade.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FKL0954/

https://www.amazon.com/Vocabulary-Fundamentals-Grade-Evan-Moor/dp/1608236633/

 

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1 hour ago, Clemsondana said:

The Critical Thinking Company's Language Mechanic?  Their Editor in Chief books are also good, but Language Mechanic seems more like what you are describing.  

I agree, CTC's The Language Mechanic is excellent for working through all of the common English grammar "foibles" -- misplaced modifiers, irregular past tense verbs, common punctuation problems, etc.  And, as Clemsondana mentioned, the Editor in Chief books are good, as they are a bit more fun than, say, fill in the blanks pages as the student gets to find the mistakes.   

If the OP is posting for students who really need to get back to basics, IMHO I'd say Evan Moor.  If the students are pretty grounded at grade level but need to stop making common mistakes, Language Mechanic is an excellent option.  Editor in Chief applies in both situations. 

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On 6/2/2021 at 1:31 PM, Belphoebe said:

What about Fix-it Grammar? It doesn't cover everything, but there is quite a bit of content, and it could be done in a couple of months instead of over the course of a year.

This could VERY easily be done as an after school activity. It does not take long at all. We have been using it for 2 years.

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26 minutes ago, Eriebritaime said:

I got several recommendations for this one when I asked for suggestions on a very large facebook homeschool group.

Easy Grammar was my favorite. ❤️ However, while my 11yo did three pages a day (sometimes she was oozing out of her chair by the end of the third page, lol), a friend said it took her two dc of about the same age a year to struggle through doing one page a day, all three of them sitting on the sofa and working together. To do it in one summer might be tough.

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